She had seen him glance her way several times during the past hour; nothing unusual. Nothing to cause suspicion of any other feeling than companionship. Why then, Alice thought to herself as she lay awake under the vast galaxy only the hours of midnight revealed, do I feel the need for him to hold me, to whisper things into my ear in a language I cannot understand?

All around her, there was life. A young doe warily grazed under the pale face of moonlight. A cricket chirped, followed by more of it's kind. Alice carefully counted the number of chirps she had heard, then added forty. Sixty-nine degrees, she concluded, probably not accurate, but it seems about right.

Her eyes grew heavy, and sleep, she felt, was soon to come. She had walked many miles after the attack on the road, and she was tired. A cool breeze blew throughout the densely forested area, fanning Alice's cheek as she began to doze off. A sudden rustle in a nearby bush abruptly woke her, and unable to fall back to sleep, she lay, staring unblinkingly through the darkness of night.

He does not. .Cannot feel the same; of this I am sure Alice reasoned, her focal point now a great oak whose branches wavered in the night air, How could he, anyway? I am of different race, of different culture than he, and if we ever did join, disgrace would settle on both our names.

Such thoughts saddened Alice, and she came to the decision not to think so negatively. After all, no one, living nor dead knew of this secret ardor that kept Alice awake at the unreasonable hours of night, just dreaming of him. Of Uncas.

A sigh was heard; soft, and obviously taken hostage by the dreams dreamt by those pure of heart. Almost at once, Alice recognized the slight vocal accent to the exhaled breath. "Uncas" she mouthed, the ends of her mouth turned upwards to a slight smile.

Alice sat up, leaning upon her right elbow for support as she searched the slew of sleeping bodies until she found him; his silhouette was quite visible underneath a small evergreen, and Alice was quite surprised that she had not noticed him beforehand.

Every move he made, every breath he took, Alice noticed. His muscles, hard and firm, shown vaguely beneath his thin shirt, and something within Alice burned with an erotic desire. Her breath grew heavy as she imagined their naked bodies next to one another, kissing and holding one another with a passion burning like white fire. All too soon did Alice come to a realization of her fantasy, and turning her face away from the Native, scolded herself for thinking such shameful things.

At that moment, Alice flinched as a cold raindrop fell onto her bare arm. It was several seconds later when the downpour came; drenching the party until they dripped with rainwater. The three Mohicans, Cora and Duncan had all awakened as they, too felt the icy drops on their skin. Unlike the others, who crawled underneath the shelter of a pine, Alice remained motionless on the ground, her arms extended to the heavens. In a few minutes, the front of her dress would soak through, but she didn't care. She was glad that it would and hoped that Uncas would notice, somehow knowing that he would; her clothes were made of thin material to escape the agonies of summer heat. Though small and tear-drop like in appearance, Alice's breasts were full and curved softly to compliment her rather petite figure. The cloth clung to Alice's body like another layer of skin, making her breasts more prominent than they ever were when her dress was dry. She hated to think of herself acting as a tramp would behave in this situation, but her mind, body and soul so longed for Uncas's touch, that Alice was almost willing to attempt anything. As she, too began to make her way toward the pine that sheltered the rest of the party, Alice smiled to herself and brushed through her long, golden hair with her slender fingers, feeling the rain beating down on her body with unmerciful force. .